RE MARKS BY HUBERT H. HUKPHREY , STA PAIGN DIRECTOR OF … · re marks by hubert h. hukphrey , sta paign director of the diiulbrat i c farmer labor party . political rally , red wing

REMARKS BY HUBERT H. HUKPHREY, STA PAIGN DIRECTOR OF THE DIIUlBRATI C FARMER LABOR PARTY. POLITICAL RALLY, RED WING, UI IDlESOTA , FRIDA.Y, OOTOB · 27 , 1944.

The American people are witnessing and being involved in a political

campaign which for downright deception and polit~cal chicanery has

had no equal since the oriti~al election of 1864. Prominent commenta­

tors and political analysts have stat ed on many occasions that if one

bu( substituted the name of Roosevelt :tor Lincoln, the same sort ot partisan tirade which was levelled against the great emancipator

i .s now being used against the great commander- 1n-oh1et.

Here in the F1rst Congressional District you have been subjected to - - ... -

the double- talk and rubber ords ot a Chicago TribWle stooge

and a Herbert Hoover Charlie MoCarthy~Your present congressman

August H. Andresen. Let us examine the record ot the· incumbent con­

gressman. Let ' s examine the words he has used in h1s frantic attempts

to cover up h1s m1srepresu.tat1on ot this pa.st decade . Cl1mbing on

the Dewey scooter , he has garbled the facts and so mis- stated the evi-,

denoe that he has finally eonvinoed himself that he , too , is the

great prosecutor searching out new orimlnals and new c11en\s.

Rollow1ng the canned SP.eeoh formula ot the R publican orat.ors,

Oo~ssman Andresen spreads a smoke sor·een ot contusion and distort.lon

typical of Herr Goebbels ~ I ask the congressm~· to prove h1s charge

that the fabulous sum ot 35;000 has been pored into his oppc.-ent ' s

campaign fund by the OIO Pol1tical .Action Committee. The congressme.n • • \ t

· knows this is a damnable lie . Andr sen knows that not one cent ot financial assistance has been received by Andre Heldahl and the

Democratic Farmer Labor Party of the First Congressional District

from the Political_ Action Committee. Congressman Andresen knows that

the issue in the F1rst· aongressional District 1s not Sidney Hillman ll>

but rather that the 1ssu is the utter 1ncompetencr, the deplorable

m1srepres ntation, the isolationism, the r eaotionary1sm, and the

detea.tism ot his own pol1·t1cal record:. Possibly we should turn the

tables on the oongressm&n. Where does he receive his money tor

ea.mpalgn purposes ' He has said that. he himself has spent an a.mount ·

-a~

equal to that h1ch he attributes to ~he P.A.O. as having spent, 1n

the First District. Yes, Jlr. Andresen, you stated at Horth:t'ield,

Minnesota , to a group of yowg students from Carlton Oollege that

the Political Action Committee simply must have put 35,000 into

this campaign. sino ·you had had to spend that much yourself. I ask

you -- where d1d you get 1t.7 Could it be that you are the represen­

tative of the packing interesfrs1 Oould it be t.ha.t you represent the

commercial daley and big business interests in your d1str1ctt

Your votes would indicate such an allegiance. Your record in eongreaa

is on• that would lead any person to believe that you are.

%lXX not interested in the independent farmer or the small business

man. Then, :ur. Andresen, who is it that bas been conducting the

smear eampalgnt Who is it that shouts communism and talks about.

personal1t1e,s1 Are you not the one that has instituted this son

o.:t political attack?

· 'l'he record of' Ooit;ressman August Andresen is a sad page in American

history. A studious examination ot the voting record of the 435

oongl'essmen tn the United States Congress :reveals thB.t Xr . ·Andresen

ot the First Oo~sstonal District is second. to none ln his ·devotion

to isolationism. in h1e adherence to reaof;.onaq eoo omios, 1n his ''

lack of cone•rn tor the future of American agriculture and 1n his re­

fusal to grs.sp the great _1nternational r ealities ot our time.

Ho amount, ot double talk, no amount of m1aquotat1on~ no ba.I"Tage of

contusion can erase the vile voting record of the congressman from

this district. oUt of 50 important bills for the Amer1oa.npe~ple

since 1936, Congressman Andresen has vot d right on only five.

Yes , I say right on only five ~ -- using the term right in view of

the pronouncements of his own chosen caJ}didate tor President,

'l'homas Dewe7. What son of' a congressman does J.llnnesota have who

voted wrong on all fifteen pieoes ot war leg1slat1onl ·Yes, he voted

aga inst arming our merchant ships when H1tler1te Germany was s inkl.na

them three miles from our shore line. He voted against, conscription.

He voted against extension ot the dratt. but tour months before Pearl Harbo:r. Andresen voted against Lend-Lease. He voted aga i nst prloe

control. He tried to den;r our soldie.ra the right of the use or

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the ballot. He voted against soldier mustering-out pe,yment pro­

visions. He voted against adequate appropriations tor the development

ot our air toroe. He voted against Guam Harbor improvements and

in his love for big bus1ness and special privilege , he voted against;

the right of our government to seize the prope~y of companies refusing

to convert to &J'Dla produot1on. Here 1s a bill that had been en!oreed

by the American Legion 1n all ot its conventions sino• its organization,

but Oongresaman Andresen ~· t1' to defy the w1l,.ls and wishes of the

servicemen ot orld ar I .

I say quote candidly that had Goering h1mselt been a congressman

1n the United States Congress, he could not have kKt aided Hitler

more than the votes ot Andresen. Had the J ckal uesol1n1 held the

seat in Congress , hls record could not have been blaeker than that

ot AuSUst Andres n. Had the American people had to rely on the votes

ot the c~ngressman. or this d1str1ot , we would have lost this war. We

would have been overrun by the ba.rQar1an hordes of Nazism and the

mll1tar~st1o fanatics of Japan.

Yes , Ur. Andresen, you may be able to do personal favors tor your

constituents. You uy ans er 1our volume ot oorrespondenoe , but

we are not; sending people to congress to b-e errand boys or steno­

~aphera . 'l'he America of 1944 needs men ot vision, men of courage

and men of ability in the consre.ss1onal halls . Congressman Andres n ,

you represent a rich and abundant and prosperous section ot th1~

great state of 1nneaota.. You come from an egr1cultura.l reg1on, the

'bread basket ot the middle west. You were elected to represent t~e

interests ot your const1 tuenta , rich and poor, bus1nese and l abor •

professional and Wtsk11led. How do you Justify your voting · record

against the farmer , aga1nat labor and against the general welfare ot your dJ,str1ot!

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Your candidate tor president , Thomas Dewey, says he believes in ~·

ASr1oul tural adjustment program -- yet, you, on October , ·;r 1940 ,, r voted against. 1 t. You have voted against orop insurance. You hs.ve

voted against incentive payments so necessary for st1mulat1118 asri- · cult~al production. You h-ve voted to ruin our soU by your refus

to support the Soil Conservation Bill on June 23 , 1943. You have

voted against farm security legislation. The same ra.rm seour1\J'

legislation h1oh made possible an increase in our agricultural

production of over 5~ of all or the increased faaapc• tarm production in this war effort. You voted ag inst reciprocal trade asreements. Yes, the same trade agreements which m.a.ny of your Republican

colleagues praised ~ supported . You voted against tbe farm relief bill on Deoember 10, 1937. a bill designed to sa.ve and re .. establ1sh thousands of independent farm owners . lhat sort of a. .farm record do you call thist

' ·y es, Ur. Andresen , it your vot•s on .farm legislation had become the lawa of this land, the farmers . ·of the Firat District would have lost . '

a total ot 3,981,880 1n direct payments and 83,060,000 tn loans during o~ th last two years. It your vows had beoollle lawa , there would be no F.ede~al Orop Insurance to guarante against losaes from natural oauaes on the war orope of wheat and cotton and other impor­tant farm produo\s . It your votes had become laws , the dairy 1nterea~a of southel?n nneaota would have had . to pa.J tw1c the amount tor· the1r feed and grain. You wanted government . h ld b.eat to 11e idle an~ wtUaed in government granartea. How do you Just1:ty thl s sol"\ ot a.ot1ont

Mr. Andresen , do you know tbat there are thousands of members ot organized labor in your dl.str1ot - members ot organiz.ee l~bor who because of their income can purahase the agricultural products ot the farmers? Your vote on labor legislation is typi .oal of an 18\b. oen~UJT r eactionary. You ll.a»" e voted against the Wage and Hour Law, placing a oe111ng under wages . You have voted to drasticall-7

amend the fla.gner Act so as to deJV labo~ t.he leg1t1mat~ right ot collective barga1nil'lg. You vot.ed for legislation which would

.. ....., - 5 - ·

' ola.ss1:t'y un1ona · a.nd un1on members a~ racketeers and gangsters .

You haYe harangued and malign~4 American labor not only by your votea.

but by your words and deeda . Your reeord in congress on labor leg1e-

' lation is one hioh .brings shame to ~he Republican party and one wh1oh,·

if Mr. De ey , your candidate, is sincere, he ould repudiate and

denounce.

In that great field or legislation which 1e designed tor the

general welfare , you have been as rong and as thoughtless in the

interests of your country as you were in foreign policy , 1n labor

l ·egislat1on and in farm programs . W1 th problema of slums and

delinqueno1 ~pen us , with our cities over- crowded and with une ploJ­

ment upon us ., you voted against a program of Federal Housing. l

Not onl7 were rou ag nst Federal Housi~ , but you also voted to

destroy the Home Owners Loan Corporation , a governmen~ agency that

did more to salvage the equity and property rights of .individual home

owners than any single piece ot Federal legislation. You have ·voted

~1nat the 01vl11an Conservation Oorps. You would have denied our

government the administ I •

ti ve eff1o1enoy that 1s so nece.ssary 1n

these modern times when you voted against the -. ... organization Ac-t ot 1937. And to top it all off , you lent your influen~e and you gave

your vote to the continuation or the Dies Committee, a oommit~ee

that has spent Am"rican taxpayers ' money in hunting down Shirlef

!empl s and Parlor Pinks. ~s

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